The night air was cold and crisp as it lashed against my skin. The ball was still going on from behind me but I didn't care. I needed some fresh air. I couldn't stop thinking of Raiden and his words. Everybody has a little darkness in them. He was wrong. I didn't. Mom didn't, Finn didn't, West didn't.

As I took another step forward it felt as if the oxygen was sucked from my lungs. I looked up, across from me was a dark shadowy figure. A familiar figure.

No, no, no.

This wasn't real. A burst of pain spread through my skull and I held back from crying out. Images flashed through my head. Of me in the library alone, images of two shadow figures fighting Bash, images of me throwing a knife.

And then it all came back to me. Everything. And I turned from the figure and ran through the doors of Crestwood. I ran through halls, left and right, not knowing where the hell I was going.

I stopped in my tracks as I rounded one corner, I saw them. They were all in a circle like they were discussing something. My eyes locked on Bash's, almost instinctively, and he knew. He knew right away.

I shook my head, turned on my heels, and ran from them.

He appeared in front of me in almost a heartbeat. "Ryn-"

"No!" I shouted and turned around but in a split second Everson was in front of me, blocking my way. This wasn't real. This isn't happening. People couldn't just appear out of nowhere.

They weren't people, a voice whispered in my head.

I remembered all the things he did last night. I remembered his eyes, I remembered the way he fought, the way he killed one of those shadows.

"Stay away from me!" I snapped at Everson and backed away, my back hitting Bash's chest.

Bash grabbed my arm. "Ryn, calm down-"

I spun on him. "Calm down? You lied and manipulated-"

His eyes started to glow, those white diamonds that held my stare. I was sucked in immediately, my gaze never leaving his. No. He was controlling my mind somehow. I was aware of it but there was nothing I could do about it. I wouldn't let him erase my memory again, I just couldn't. "Stop!" I shouted and he surprisingly did, letting go of my arm. He exchanged a look with Everson before he looked back to me and said, "sleep."

And then the world was engulfed in darkness.

I woke up in a room I wasn't familiar with. The walls were mint green, lined with gold, and indented with an expensive-looking flower design. Everything looked like it was straight from the renaissance era, it wasn't like anything i'd seen before, but i was starting to think it was my kind of style. The conversation quieted as soon as my eyes opened. Six pairs of eyes stared down at me. Everything came back to me in flashes ...

I was going crazy. That was it. I was becoming like him. I was becoming my worst fear.

Bash sat down in a chair directly in front of me. This time I didn't freak out.

I remembered everything from the library, including the fact that he protected me. I had no reason to be afraid of him, at least not yet.

"If you don't talk in the next five seconds I'm going to scream," I stated impatiently.
I thought I might have seen his lips twitch but it was gone before it started.

"She's charming isn't she?" said Everson.

My eyes never left Bash. I didn't trust myself to look at any of them. "What are you?" I asked as calmly as I could. I was pushing away the shock, the disbelief, and letting the numbness of my brain take over, just like I always did.

I was definitely going crazy but I decided to think about that later.

"It's ... complicated," He answered and then glared. "You weren't supposed to remember."

"Not exactly anything I can do about that. Maybe don't brainwash people?" I suggested sarcastically. Sarcasm was my default. I had no idea what the hell was happening. I had never been more confused. And honestly, I wasn't too confident that I wasn't going insane.

I waited a few seconds but he still said nothing. "Do you want me to start guessing? Fine. Vampire? Witch? Fae? Werewolf-?"

"Oh God, please stop," Everson cut in looking horrified, he shook his head. "We are Devara."

"And...?" I leaned forward waiting for him to continue.

"And that is what we are," Nyan finished my sentence and stepped forward.

"So you're not...'' I cleared my throat. "You're not human?"

"What do you think?" Kaida snapped stepping in, her sleek black hair hung down her back and her fox eyes narrowed. She looked at the rest of them and shook her head, a humorless laugh coming from her. Kaida was very fierce and aggressive but not in the type of way that made you hate her for it. In the way that made you somehow admire her for it. "You're all insane. We shouldn't even be telling her anything. The elders will have our throats."

"Since when do you give a shit what the elders think? And anyway those old bats couldn't take down any of us,'' Everson replied, glaring at Kaida.

I stared at her as well, it was clear from the start that she wasn't fond of me, I just didn't know why.

"For once I agree with Kai," Octavious was the next to step into the conversation. Everson looked at him shocked and maybe even hurt that he took her side. "I'm sorry but she's right. We shouldn't be telling Ryn anything, it's not only dangerous to us but to her," he explained.

"Bash should just take her memory again," said Kaida, and I had to admit it was kinda frustrating that they were talking about me like I wasn't right here.

"No!" I snapped, then drew my gaze to Bash, silently begging him not to, I had a feeling if he did that I would feel crazier than I felt right now.

"In case you didn't notice, the whole mind control thing didn't work on her the last time," Bash said to them and then turned to me with that look on his face, his thinking face. "Our powers barely work on her."

I looked at them, really looked. Hadn't I thought they looked otherworldly when I first saw them? That they had the faces of gods? Somehow I knew from the beginning that they were different, I was drawn to them. "Aliens?" I guessed.

Everson stared at me for a second then started bursting out laughing, as did Mara and Nyan. "That was the best I've heard so far," Everson chuckled.

I did the most immature thing and stuck my tongue out at him which made him laugh harder.

I turned back to Bash, for some reason I trusted him the most out of all of them. "So you were born on earth?"

"Not exactly ..." Mara answered my question, stepping toward me. "We were born in the light realm."

"Mara!" Kaida snarled at her. "You can't give away all of our secrets to some stupid human!"

Okay, I know she didn't like me and I was fine with that, but I drew the line at stupid. I wasn't stupid.

Before I could say anything, Octavious replied. "Are we so sure she's human though?"

"What exactly are you suggesting?" snarled Kaida, her eyebrows drawing in.
At that moment they all turned to me, every single eye, all with some different type of emotion in them. They were all silent for several minutes, exchanging looks as if they were somehow communicating without actually speaking.

"It can't be possible, right?" Everson asked the room.

I'd never been more confused. It was hard for me to understand anything that they were saying, I blocked out most of it. I refused to try and understand their words, it went against all of my beliefs.

"We should call Taven," Bash suggested.
They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"We come from the light realm," Nyan explained as she placed an ancient-looking book in my hands that had a map in it. We were currently in a small library in their house behind Crestwood while she explained everything to me. She pointed to a spot on the map. "That's the city of Elysian, our home."

The city looked unreal. Like out of a fantasy drawing. I swallowed and closed the book. "So what exactly are you?"

"We're just like humans... sort of. We have enhanced abilities."

"Such as?" I wanted to know everything about them. This was unbelievable and I still haven't processed it. I was waiting for the shock to come in, but it wasn't there. And I had no idea why. A normal person would have been running for the hills but then again I've never thought of myself as normal.

"We're stronger than your average human and faster, and some of us have other special things," She explained taking a seat, it freaked me out how calmly she spoke about this, how normally.

I sat across from her on the brown leather sofa. I'd always felt at home when books were surrounding me, they have this way of making me feel at ease, even in the worst possible situations.

"Octavious can read minds, I can manipulate emotions, Bash has a special form of mind control," She clarified. "Sometimes it's not the stuff on the inside either, sometimes special types of Devara's can control stuff on the outside."

I leaned forward, squinting. "What do you mean?"

"Devara's are connected with nature, that's just how we were created. So sometimes we can control it. Specifically water," she answered. "But there hasn't been a Devara who could do that in over a century."

I was intrigued. "How do you mean?"

"From what we learn in our schools, which is just mostly legends, are about powerful Devaras who can water bend."

"Is it just elemental? What about fire?"
She looked uncomfortable for only a second before she answered, "That's a Greer thing."

"A what?" The name sounded familiar but I couldn't place it.

"Greer's ... they're like us but the opposite," She tried to explain then she realized her mistake. "Damn, I didn't realize how hard it was to explain this stuff, we just grew up knowing it." she shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing. She smiled at me. "Devara's are basically made up of light, that is what we are, well the Greer's are made up of shadows, darkness, they are like an evil version of us, they come from the shadow realm."

The shadowy figure in the library came back to me, is that what it was? I remember how drawn to it I was. I looked up at the ceiling. I felt like I was getting a headache from all this information. "Just how many realms are there?"

"Three, that I know of, the human realm, which is here, the shadow realm, and the light realm. But don't get mixed up, Ryn, there are still supernatural people who are formed here. There is more than the humans think. A lot more."

"Like ... Like vampires and werewolves?" the words sounded idiotic coming out of my mouth.

She flashed me a grin. "No, but that would be cool, huh?"she acknowledged. "Just dangerous things, wraiths, fae, ect cetra."

I shook my head. My brain was definitely overloading.

"How were you created?"

She gave me a warm amused smile. "How were humans created?"

"I ..."

"There no way to know, huh? Same with us. Many people think we are descended from gods."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked skeptically, if I had a secret this big I certainly wouldn't be telling a seventeen-year-old school girl.

"Well, we can't exactly erase your memory again, so why not? Ask me anything."
I shrugged, that was good enough for me.

"How do the people at school know that you're called Devara's?"

She laughed at my question, shaking her head. "That would be Everson's fault. He's not very good at keeping his mouth shut and accidentally called us Devara's in front of a classmate and then the word spread and they all started calling us that."

"Why haven't you stopped it? I mean wouldn't it be dangerous for humans to know?" which is why I was skeptical about her telling me. This was a huge thing. A massive secret and if the government ever found out ... I had a feeling all hell would break loose.

She sighed. "We aren't afraid of humans, Ryn, and besides if your kind decides they want to kill us all, we can just go home."
Your kind. That was something I thought I'd never hear.

"How do you ..." I cleared my throat. "How does that work exactly?"

"Traveling realms? There are hidden gates everywhere, in plain sight actually. Don't worry though, humans can't travel through realms."

I hadn't expected to feel disappointed at her words, but I was. I wrapped my arms around my shoulders as I suddenly felt very cold. I'm not saying I'd want to travel to another realm- no wait- yeah, that's exactly what I am saying. Could you imagine how amazing that would be? Although the thought was terrifying I know that if I had the opportunity I would take it. "Is there a reason your powers barely work on me?"

"Some powerful devara's can blockout others abilities ..."

Was she saying I was one of them? No. I couldn't think of that. I didn't want to. I- I just didn't know what I wanted.

"In the library... those things Bash were fighting... were those Greers?" I asked the question I've been holding in.

"No, I mean they come from the shadow realm. I know that, but they are not Greers. They are called the Lacuna. More like an army the Greers control, they are mostly harmless as long as a Greer isn't around."

"How come the Greers are evil?" I questioned, there had to be a reason, besides the whole creepy shadow things they control.

"They just are. The Devara's and the Greer's have been at war for as long as I can remember. Their king has wanted to take over the light realm for centuries now, I guess having power over one world isn't enough, but they are quite greedy. For power. They are all bad, Ryn, basically demons. If you ever come across one don't trust them," She warned, getting serious.

I nodded my head trying to remember her words. "I hope I never meet one," I said truthfully, I've had enough demons in my life, I didn't need an actual one.

She winced at my words. "You sort of already did."

"I think I would know if I've ever met a demon."

"That's the thing Ryn, you would never know, they look exactly like humans, Remember that boy you were dancing with last night?"
"Raiden?" I instantly shook my head. There's no way- oh my god! That would make so much sense. The way he made me feel on edge, and the way he felt so dangerous. It made perfect sense. I thought of his words, everybody has a little darkness in them. "But what did he want? And with me?"

"We don't know what he wanted, and he did want something. Greer don't do anything that isn't for their own gain. If you ever come across him again, tell Bash immediately."

"Why Bash?"

"Bash is the most powerful of us, he could probably take down that Greer in one shot," she said confidently.

I nodded my head. "Is there anymore Devara's here? And if not then why are you guys here?"

"Asking the hard questions I see." she sighed leaning back against her chair. "Devara's never really come to the human world, we never have reason to."

"So why are the six of you here?"

She paused, choosing her next words very carefully. "Well, how do I say this? We are special among the Devara, the six of us are the heirs to the light realm, therefore we must be protected at all cost."

"Heirs? As in ..?"

"Royalty? Yes in some ways. A few hundred years ago the shadow king threatened our lives, then killed our families, we've been on the run ever since."

I let myself process her words. Their history was unbelievable. I was transfixed by it. I had always loved learning about mythical history such as greek mythology and stuff like that. It was exciting to hear theirs and know that it wasn't mythical at all. It was real.
"... What do you mean a few hundred years ago? Wha- How old are you?"

She smiled at my bewildered face. "Did I forget to mention that time works a little bit different in the light and shadow realm?" she said so simply as if it had slipped her mind.

"Um, yes." I stared at her wide-eyed. "Is there anything else you forgot to mention?"

She grinned at me then brought her arm forward, opening up her palm. Light as bright as the sun sprung from her hand, engulfing her. I felt the energy around the room, it felt like she was sucking it to her. The hair on my arms had stood up and I got a weird taste in my mouth that reminded me of static. It looked like she was carrying a ball of sunlight. I put a hand over my eyes, shielding the brightness that threatened to blind me. I felt compelled by it. I had the strange urge to reach over and touch it, of course, I didn't, but I wanted to. She closed her hand and the sunlight evaporated. I stared at her amazed. "Wow," I said, dazed, probably sounding like an idiot.

"So how are you all heirs?" I questioned after I gathered myself. I didn't know how things worked in the light realm but in human history and royalty, there's only one heir to each kingdom.

"The light realm is split up into five different lands, the city of Elysian, Tavryn, Haverlyn, Sormkav, and my kingdom, Davalant. Five different kingdoms, five different heirs," she replied. "Technically, Ever and I are not heirs, Bash is, but we are still royal blood."

I cleared my throat, drawing up the courage to ask her the only thing that had been on my mind this whole time. "Do you really think I'm one of you?"

She stared at me for a few seconds. I really liked Nyan. She had this way of making me feel safe and I don't think it was the use of her powers. It was because of her genuine kindness, her carefree atmosphere and the fact she was so very positive. It was hard not to love her. "It's not impossible," was her answer.

The door to the library opened and Mara popped her head in. "He's here."

One of their elders was here. For me. Oh boy.